Central Asia news

Russia: Two more “skinheads” convicted

07.03.2013 01:31 msk

Ferghana

Two members of the extremist community called Volkssturm were convicted on 6 Mar. 2013. The group killed and assaulted non-Slav looking individuals between 2006 and 2008, the Sverdlov Regional Investigations Committee reports.

According to RIA Novosti, Aleksandr Solovyov, one of the two convicts, directly participated in 21 attacks in Yekaterinburg, Russia, nine of which resulted in victims’ death or attempts on their life. Solovyov was only 17 when he committed these crimes. The second defendant, Aleksandr Minin, did not kill but did participate in attacks and beatings of non-Slav looking persons.

In his final speech, Minin has pleaded entirely guilty of charges, while Solovyov pleaded partially guilty. The court convicted them to 9.5 and 2 conditional convictions, respectively. Four more members of the group were already convicted in 2011.

The Volkssturm extremist community was initially established by 11 minors. The investigation found that between September 2006 and February 2008, they killed three persons and attempted on eight people’s lives, and staged at least 26 so called “actions” – assaulting and beating non-Slav looking people. The criminals documented their “actions” with video and photo cameras and posted them on the Internet. The group seized to exist late February 2008, after its leader’s arrest followed by arrests of other members.